Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/306187531?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Thursday, May 16, 2013
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Friday, May 3, 2013
May Day rally turns violent in Seattle
SEATTLE (AP) ? Police used "flash bangs" and pepper spray against some protesters who pelted them with rocks and bottles late Wednesday, as violence erupted during May Day in Seattle.
Several dozen protesters, many using bandanas to cover their faces, began clashing with police in downtown Seattle hours after a peaceful immigrant-rights march ended.
Protesters threw rocks and bottles at police officers and news crews. As they moved through downtown Seattle to another nearby neighborhood, they flung construction street barriers, trash cans and newspaper bins on the streets in an attempt to block advancing police officers. Windows of local businesses were broken and vehicles with people in them were banged around.
"We're a bigger and better city than this. I look at this and I am disappointed that this is the picture the world sees of us," Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn said late Wednesday.
Police used their bikes to shield businesses and eventually began to use pepper spray and "flash bang' grenades ? releasing a flash of light, smoke and a loud noise ? to disperse the crowd. But that pushed the group to the Capitol Hill neighborhood, and they left a wake of overturned trash cans and debris on the street, as well as smashed windows on local businesses.
In the aftermath, 18 people were arrested, the Seattle Police Capt. Chris Fowler said.
Fowler said that eight officer were injured, mostly scrapes and bruises. One officer was hit by a rock on her knee.
The violence stemmed from a march that billed itself as an "anti-capitalism" protest. Initially, the protesters concentrated on a business sector of downtown Seattle.
Despite lacking a permit to march, Seattle police escorted them as through downtown.
"That first march came downtown. It was absolutely peaceful...it was almost a festive affair and they had some serious messages, too, that they wanted to express. No incidents whatsoever," McGinn said. "The second march was very different, and it wasn't just merely because it was unpermitted. I think it also had to do with the nature of the individuals in it and what they wanted to do."
There were no immediate cost estimates of the damage left.
This is the second year in a row violence has broken out during May Day in Seattle. Last year, anarchists broke windows of store fronts, including Niketown, and vehicles and used smoke bombs. Protesters also targeted a federal building, breaking windows and doors.
Olivia One Feather of Covington joined the crowd Wednesday night because she wanted to see how police handled the protest. She said she wasn't impressed, adding that she was pepper sprayed in the face while trying to video record officers.
Of the protesters, she said, "They're doing what we need to do to stand up to ourselves. These are our streets and we have the right to take them."
Many of the protesters are self-described anarchists. A local anarchist website said protesters would attempt to disrupt May Day.
After the clashes died down, local residents were seen cleaning up trash left by the protesters.
The violence marred a May Day that immigrant-rights activists hoped would put a focus back on immigration reform. Thousands of people marched about 2 1/2 miles from the Central District toward Seattle's downtown Jackson Federal Building after a May Day rally supporting immigrant rights and labor.
Many carried signs, with messages such as "We are America," and "There are no illegal humans." One sign suggested forgetting about marijuana and instead asking the United States to "Legalize my mom," a reference to Washington's recent legalization of marijuana.
Other demonstrations and rallies in Olympia, Mount Vernon, Spokane, Vancouver, Walla Walla, Wenatchee and Yakima went along peacefully.
____
Associated Press writers Rachel La Corte in Olympia, Wash., Shannon Dininny in Yakima, Wash. and Manuel Valdes in Seattle contributed to this story.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/may-day-rally-turns-violent-seattle-032255547.html
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Thursday, May 2, 2013
Media companies benefit from higher network fees
In this Thursday, April 25, 2013, photo, a Comcast truck is parked in Berlin, Vt. Comcast Corp. reports quarterly financial results before the market opens on Wednesday, May 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
In this Thursday, April 25, 2013, photo, a Comcast truck is parked in Berlin, Vt. Comcast Corp. reports quarterly financial results before the market opens on Wednesday, May 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Media companies benefited from higher fees for cable television networks such as TBS, Comedy Central and CNBC in the first three months of the year.
Time Warner Inc., Viacom Inc. and Comcast Corp. all saw growth in their cable network businesses, thanks to distribution fees they charge cable and satellite TV service providers for rights to carry their channels on subscribers' lineups. Those fees get passed on to customers of cable and satellite service.
The boost in television helped make up for weakness at two of the three major movie studios that reported results Wednesday.
The trends show how important such fees have become to the television industry. Revenue at Time Warner's television business grew, even with a decrease in ad revenue. Even broadcast networks are increasingly relying on distribution fees to ride out fluctuations in the ad market. CBS Corp. said distribution fees from service providers for carrying CBS stations grew 62 percent.
The fees have become so vital that broadcasters are worried about the threat posed by a Barry Diller-backed startup called Aereo. The company sends over-the-air broadcasts over the Internet and bypasses traditional cable and satellite operators. Disputes over the fees have also led to high-profile blackouts of channels on cable and satellite lineups.
Time Warner, which owns channels such as TBS, TNT and HBO, credited the television division for a 24 percent growth in first-quarter net income to $720 million, despite a tiny drop in revenue to $6.9 billion that resulted from declines at the Warner Bros. studio and Time Inc. magazine businesses.
Revenue at Time Warner's television networks grew 3 percent to $3.7 billion. Network subscription revenue ? which includes the distribution fees ? grew 5 percent. Advertising revenue at the networks fell 1 percent despite higher ad rates, in part because of weakness at CNN and the shutdown of channels in India and Turkey.
Viacom's media networks unit, which includes MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, had a 2 percent increase in revenue to $2.2 billion. Digital licensing revenue fell because of the timing of available shows. Excluding that, domestic affiliate revenue ? primarily distribution fees ? saw percentage growth in the low double digits. Advertising rebounded as worldwide revenue grew 2 percent, compared with a 6 percent decline in the previous quarter.
The increases in television didn't fully offset weakness at the Paramount Pictures movie studio, though. Viacom's net income fell 18 percent to $478 million in the fiscal second quarter, as revenue fell 6 percent to $3.1 billion. Still, the earnings beat expectations. Viacom's main class of stock briefly hit an all-time high after the results came out.
At Comcast's cable networks, which include CNBC, MSNBC, Bravo and SyFy, revenue grew nearly 5 percent to $2.2 billion, largely because distribution fees went up nearly 9 percent. Ad revenue also went up, by 2.5 percent, because of higher rates, though that was offset by lower ratings and reductions in content licensing revenue.
Although Comcast's cable networks business benefits from higher distribution fees, those fees mean higher costs for Comcast because the company is also the nation's largest provider of cable TV services to homes. But companies such as Comcast make up for that by charging consumers more on monthly bills. Comcast's cable TV subscribers paid an average of $3.40 more per month in the first quarter compared with the same period last year. Some of that increase is from upgrades to more expensive packages. Overall, net income rose 17 percent to $1.4 billion.
The quarter was mixed for studio production.
Time Warner said the Warner Bros. studio division was successful with television productions, including hits such as "Revolution" on NBC and "The Following" on Fox. But revenue at the studio fell 4 percent to $2.7 billion. Time Warner said "Gangster Squad" and "Jack the Giant Slayer" fell short of expectations in theaters and the company had fewer TV shows available for licensing abroad. Time Warner did benefit from the home releases of "Argo" and "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" and from a new studio tour in London tied to the "Harry Potter" franchise.
Revenue at Viacom's Paramount Pictures studio business fell 20 percent to $941 million, largely because it's compared with a 2012 quarter that included proceeds from "Mission Impossible ? Ghost Protocol."
Comcast's movie unit did well. Revenue at the Universal Pictures studio increased 2 percent to $1.2 billion, thanks to "Les Miserables," ''Identity Thief" and "Mama."
In broadcast television, Comcast's revenue fell more than 18 percent to $1.5 billion because the quarter last year included the Super Bowl on NBC. Excluding the Super Bowl, which was on CBS this year, revenue fell 5 percent. Comcast blamed lower prime-time ratings at NBC and lower revenue from content licensing.
CBS, meanwhile, said quarterly revenue exceeded $4 billion for the first time since its 2006 split from Viacom, thanks to an 8 percent increase in ad revenue driven by the Super Bowl. But CBS also credited higher distribution fees for CBS stations as well as cable networks such as Showtime and CBS Sports Network.
ABC and ESPN owner Walt Disney Co. and Fox owner News Corp. are scheduled to report results next week.
Revenue at Time Warner's magazine business fell 5 percent to $737 million, as subscription revenue fell 11 percent. Time Warner plans to spin off the Time Inc. business into a separate publicly traded company by the end of the year.
During a conference call with analysts, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes said the spin-off should leave the company stronger as "the leading pure-play video content company in the world." Without Time Inc., he said, the company will get about 90 percent of profits from television ? the cable networks and television production at Warner Bros.
With video consumption, subscriptions and rates all growing worldwide, Bewkes said, "we think that's a very good place to be."
Time Warner expects further growth in distribution revenue next year as the Turner channels ? including TBS, TNT and TruTV ? benefit from new deals with higher rates.
___
AP Technology Writers Barbara Ortutay and Peter Svensson in New York and Business Writer Ryan Nakashima in Los Angeles contributed to this story.
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The HR I.Q. Test: May '13 ? Business Management Daily: Free ...
1.? How many hours does the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) consider ?full-time? employment?
a. 35
b. 40
c. Employers determine ?full time? status, not the FLSA
2.? A California company recently lost a $1 million overtime lawsuit due to unusually long lines in which employees waited at:
a. The time clock
b. The entrance to the parking lot
c. The HR department?s door
3.? Since March, employers have been required to post an updated poster that explains employees rights under what law?
a. National Labor Relations Act
b. Fair Labor Standards Act
c. Family and Medical Leave Act
4.? By Dec. 1, 2013, OSHA says certain covered employers must train their employees on:
a. New texting-while-driving employer guidelines
b. New chemical labeling rules
c. New electrical wiring regulations
5.? Romantic relationships between co-workers can trigger legal issues. What percentage of U.S. employees say they?ve been involved with a co-worker romantically?
a. 16%?????
b. 37%?????
c. 51%
6.? A recent Wall Street Journal story says recruiters and applicants are increasingly using what service to post and seek jobs?
a. Twitter?????
b. Instagram?????
c. eBay
__________________________________
Sources: 1. Department of Labor; 2. The HR Specialist; 3. TheHRSpecialist.com/FMLAposter; 4. OSHA.gov/dsg/hazcom; 5. Glassdoor.com survey; 6. The Wall Street Journal.
Answers:?1.? c??2.? a??3.? c??4. b??5.? b??6.? a
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PayPal and Discover expand partnership, will reach 2 million stores by year-end
When PayPal saw Square for the first time, we're fairly sure its CEO glumly stared out of the window, said "we're going to the mattresses" and promptly called the CEO of Discover to talk about an alliance. That unholy union has now brought PayPal into 250,000 retail outlets in the US, and the pair is now promising that the figure will be closer to two million by the end of 2013. Merchant acquirers such as Vantiv, WorldPay and TSYS have also signed up, presumably begging the pair not to let Jack Dorsey take the shirt from their backs.
Filed under: Misc
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/oQeTtj6M5N0/
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Wednesday, May 1, 2013
European Union to consider 'appropriate action' after Bangladesh building collapse to encourage safety improvements - @Reuters
Retailers meet in Germany to seek new safety plan in garment industry after Bangladesh disaster - @WSJbreakingnews
Collapsed building owner's property to be seized, Bangladeshi court orders - @AP
Retailer Primark to pay compensation to staff making its clothes in collapsed Bangladesh building - @BBCWorld
Owner of collapsed building in Bangladesh is brought back to Dhaka where he faces charges of negligence - @AP
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Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Army says no to more tanks, but Congress insists
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Built to dominate the enemy in combat, the Army's hulking Abrams tank is proving equally hard to beat in a budget battle.
Lawmakers from both parties have devoted nearly half a billion dollars in taxpayer money over the past two years to build improved versions of the 70-ton Abrams.
But senior Army officials have said repeatedly, "No thanks."
It's the inverse of the federal budget world these days, in which automatic spending cuts are leaving sought-after pet programs struggling or unpaid altogether. Republicans and Democrats for years have fought so bitterly that lawmaking in Washington ground to a near-halt.
Yet in the case of the Abrams tank, there's a bipartisan push to spend an extra $436 million on a weapon the experts explicitly say is not needed.
"If we had our choice, we would use that money in a different way," Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army's chief of staff, told The Associated Press this past week.
Why are the tank dollars still flowing? Politics.
Keeping the Abrams production line rolling protects businesses and good paying jobs in congressional districts where the tank's many suppliers are located.
If there's a home of the Abrams, it's politically important Ohio. The nation's only tank plant is in Lima. So it's no coincidence that the champions for more tanks are Rep. Jim Jordan and Sen. Rob Portman, two of Capitol's Hill most prominent deficit hawks, as well as Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. They said their support is rooted in protecting national security, not in pork-barrel politics.
"The one area where we are supposed to spend taxpayer money is in defense of the country," said Jordan, whose district in the northwest part of the state includes the tank plant.
The Abrams dilemma underscores the challenge that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel faces as he seeks to purge programs that the military considers unnecessary or too expensive in order to ensure there's enough money for essential operations, training and equipment.
Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska, faces a daunting task in persuading members of Congress to eliminate or scale back projects favored by constituents.
Federal budgets are always peppered with money for pet projects. What sets the Abrams example apart is the certainty of the Army's position.
Sean Kennedy, director of research for the nonpartisan Citizens Against Government Waste, said Congress should listen when one of the military services says no to more equipment.
"When an institution as risk averse as the Defense Department says they have enough tanks, we can probably believe them," Kennedy said.
Congressional backers of the Abrams upgrades view the vast network of companies, many of them small businesses, that manufacture the tanks' materials and parts as a critical asset that has to be preserved. The money, they say, is a modest investment that will keep important tooling and manufacturing skills from being lost if the Abrams line were to be shut down.
The Lima plant is a study in how federal dollars affect local communities, which in turn hold tight to the federal dollars. The facility is owned by the federal government but operated by the land systems division of General Dynamics, a major defense contractor that spent close to $11 million last year on lobbying, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
The plant is Lima's fifth-largest employer with close to 700 employees, down from about 1,100 just a few years ago, according to Mayor David Berger. But the facility is still crucial to the local economy. "All of those jobs and their spending activity in the community and the company's spending probably have about a $100 million impact annually," Berger said.
Jordan, a House conservative leader who has pushed for deep reductions in federal spending, supported the automatic cuts known as the sequester that require $42 billion to be shaved from the Pentagon's budget by the end of September. The military also has to absorb a $487 billion reduction in defense spending over the next 10 years, as required by the Budget Control Act passed in 2011.
Still, said Jordan, it would be a big mistake to stop producing tanks.
"Look, (the plant) is in the 4th Congressional District and my job is to represent the 4th Congressional District, so I understand that," he said. "But the fact remains, if it was not in the best interests of the national defense for the United States of America, then you would not see me supporting it like we do."
The tanks that Congress is requiring the Army to buy aren't brand new. Earlier models are being outfitted with a sophisticated suite of electronics that gives the vehicles better microprocessors, color flat panel displays, a more capable communications system, and other improvements. The upgraded tanks cost about $7.5 million each, according to the Army.
Out of a fleet of nearly 2,400 tanks, roughly two-thirds are the improved versions, which the Army refers to with a moniker that befits their heft: the M1A2SEPv2, and service officials said they have plenty of them. "The Army is on record saying we do not require any additional M1A2s," Davis Welch, deputy director of the Army budget office, said this month.
The tank fleet, on average, is less than 3 years old. The Abrams is named after Gen. Creighton Abrams, one of the top tank commanders during World War II and a former Army chief of staff.
The Army's plan was to stop buying tanks until 2017, when production of a newly designed Abrams would begin. Orders for Abrams tanks from U.S. allies help fill the gap created by the loss of tanks for the Army, according to service officials, but congressional proponents of the program feared there would not be enough international business to keep the Abrams line going.
This pause in tank production for the U.S. would allow the Army to spend its money on research and development work for the new and improved model, said Ashley Givens, a spokeswoman for the Army's Ground Combat Systems office.
The first editions of the Abrams tank were fielded in the early 1980s. Over the decades, the Abrams supply chain has become embedded in communities across the country.
General Dynamics estimated in 2011 that there were more than 560 subcontractors throughout the country involved in the Abrams program and that they employed as many as 18,000 people. More than 40 of the companies are in Pennsylvania, according to Sen. Robert Casey, D-Pa., also a staunch backer of continued tank production.
A letter signed by 173 Democratic and Republican members of the House last year and sent to then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta demonstrated the depth of bipartisan support for the Abrams program on Capitol Hill. They chided the Obama administration for neglecting the industrial base and proposing to terminate tank production in the United States for the first time since World War II.
Portman, who served as President George W. Bush's budget director before being elected to the Senate, said allowing the line to wither and close would create a financial mess.
"People can't sit around for three years on unemployment insurance and wait for the government to come back," Portman said. "That supply chain is going to be much more costly and much more inefficient to create if you mothball the plant."
Pete Keating, a General Dynamics spokesman, said the money from Congress is allowing for a stable base of production for the Army, which receives about four tanks a month. With the line open, Lima also can fill international orders, bringing more work to Lima and preserving American jobs, he said.
Current foreign customers are Saudi Arabia, which is getting about five tanks a month, and Egypt, which is getting four. Each country pays all of their own costs. That's a "success story during a period of economic pain," Keating said.
Still, far fewer tanks are coming out of the Lima plant than in years past. The drop-off has affected companies such as Verhoff Machine and Welding in Continental, Ohio, which makes seats and other parts for the Abrams. Ed Verhoff, the company's president, said his sales have dropped from $20 million to $7 million over the past two years. He's also had to lay off about 25 skilled employees and he expects to be issuing more pink slips in the future.
"When we start to lose this base of people, what are we going to do? Buy our tanks from China?" Verhoff said.
Steven Grundman, a defense expert at the Atlantic Council in Washington, said the difficulty of reviving defense industrial capabilities tends to be overstated.
"From the fairly insular world in which the defense industry operates, these capabilities seem to be unique and in many cases extraordinarily high art," said Grundman, a former deputy undersecretary of defense for industrial affairs and installations during the Clinton administration. "But in the greater scope of the economy, they tend not to be."
___
Online:
Abrams tank: http://www.army.mil/factfiles/equipment/tracked/abrams.html
__
Follow Richard Lardner on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rplardner
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/army-says-no-more-tanks-congress-insists-115422396.html
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Mapping of cancer cell fuel pumps paves the way for new drugs
Apr. 28, 2013 ? For the first time, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have managed to obtain detailed images of the way in which the transport protein GLUT transports sugars into cells. Since tumours are highly dependent on the transportation of nutrients in order to be able to grow rapidly, the researchers are hoping that the study published in the scientific magazine Nature Structural & Molecular Biology will form the basis for new strategies to fight cancer cells.
In order to be able to fuel their rapid growth, cancer tumours depend on transporter proteins to work at high speed to introduce sugars and other nutrients that are required for the cell's metabolism. One possible treatment strategy would therefore be to block some of the transporters in the cell membrane which operate as fuel pumps, thus starving out and killing the cancer cells.
One important group of membrane transporters is the GLUT family, which introduces glucose and other sugars into the cell. Glucose is one of the most important energy sources for cancer cells and GLUT transporters have been shown to play a key role in tumour growth in many different types of cancer.
In the current study, researchers from Karolinska Institutet have performed a detailed study of the way in which suger transport is executed by the protein XylE, from the Escherichia colibacterium, whose function and structure is very similar to GLUT transporters in humans. For the first time, the researchers have described the way in which the protein's structure changes between two different conformations when it binds and transports a sugar molecule.
"In showing details of the molecular structure of the region that bind the sugar, our study opens up the opportunities to more efficiently develop new substances that may inhibit GLUT transporters," says P?r Nordlund at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, one of the researchers behind the study. "Information on the structure of the transport protein facilitates the development of better drugs in a shorter time. Such GLUT inhibitors could potentially be used to treat cancer in the future."
The study may be of significance not just to cancer research but also in the field of diabetes. GLUT plays a key role in diabetes since insulin works by activating the uptake of glucose from the blood by means of GLUT transporters in the cell membrane.
GLUT and the studied XylE transporter belong to the very large group of metabolite transporters called the Major Facilitator Superfamily (MFS), which is important in many diseases and for the uptake of medicines in cells.
"Many aspects concerning molecular mechanisms for the function of GLUT transporters are probably common to many members of the MFS family, which are involved in a broad spectrum of diseases in addition to cancer and diabetes," says P?r Nordlund.
As well as membrane transporters, which have undergone in-depth analysis in the current study, many different membrane proteins pass through the surface membrane of the cells. Their significance to the cell function and the development of drugs has been noted before, not least through the Nobel Prizes that were awarded to researchers who used mechanistic and structural studies to map the function of two other major membrane protein families, G-protein-coupled receptors and ion channels.
The current study has been financed by grants from the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Cancer Society, the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and The Danish Council for Independent Research.
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Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Karolinska Institutet, via AlphaGalileo.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Esben M Quistgaard, Christian L?w, Per Moberg, Lionel Tr?saugues, P?r Nordlund. Structural basis for substrate transport in the GLUT-homology family of monosaccharide transporters. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.2569
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/YpfcBJy_z0w/130428144853.htm
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Monday, April 29, 2013
NBA's Collins comes out as first openly gay player
By Julian Linden
(Reuters) - Jason Collins, a veteran center in the National Basketball Association (NBA), announced that he is gay, becoming the first active player from any major U.S. professional sports league to publicly reveal his homosexuality.
Collins, a free agent who played with the Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics during the NBA's 2012-13 regular season, made the announcement in an interview with Sports Illustrated that was published on Monday.
"I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation," he said.
"I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, 'I'm different.' If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand."
In the ultra-scrutinized world of U.S. professional sports, there had never been an openly gay player in any of America's major professional sports leagues, although some had revealed their sexual orientation after retiring.
In a country with openly gay politicians, entertainers and even soldiers, professional sports had become a final frontier and questions were being asked why sports, which helped play a key role in changing public opinion on racial discrimination, was out of step with the rest of American society.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, whose daughter Chelsea was a classmate of Collins at Stanford University, applauded Collins for coming out.
"Jason's announcement today is an important moment for professional sports and in the history of the LGBT community," Clinton said in a statement.
"It is also the straightforward statement of a good man who wants no more than what so many of us seek: to be able to be who we are; to do our work; to build families and to contribute to our communities. For so many members of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community, these simple goals remain elusive.
"I hope that everyone, particularly Jason's colleagues in the NBA, the media and his many fans extend to him their support and the respect he has earned."
NBA Commissioner David Stern also issued praised Collins for breaking the barrier.
"Jason has been a widely respected player and teammate throughout his career and we are proud he has assumed the leadership mantle on this very important issue," Stern said in a statement.
Collins, 34, has played for six NBA teams since entering the league in 2001 and twice appeared in the playoffs. He said he wants to continue playing and hopes to find a new team.
It had seemed like only matter of time until an active player said he was gay after the issue had become one of the hottest topics in North America, no more so than in the National Football League (NFL), the most macho of America's pro sports.
In the days leading up to this year's Super Bowl in New Orleans, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver told reporters he would not welcome a homosexual teammate into the locker room.
He later retracted his comments but reports have since emerged of NFL teams asking college players about their sexuality at a scouting combine in February.
This prompted the New York State attorney general to send a letter to the NFL, urging the league to take action and adopt a formal policy of sexual discrimination.
Culliver's comments are not typical of the attitude of all professional sportsmen. Indeed, there are several high-profile NFL players, most notably Chris Kluwe and Brendon Ayanbadejo, who have advocated for gay rights.
Both believe it was only a matter of time before a professional player came out publicly.
(Reporting by Julian Linden in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/collins-comes-first-openly-gay-player-top-u-154217963.html
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Twitter Careers: New Jobs Posted This Week - AllTwitter - Mediabistro
This week,?Twitter added 15 new jobs to its?career page.
And here they are:
Amsterdam
Account Executive
Dublin
Account Manager, Sales ? UK & Ireland markets
London
Bluefin Labs ? Jr Data Analyst
Los Angeles
Media ? Contractor
New York City
Product Manager ? Content Discovery
Paris
Director ? Media Partnerships
San Francisco
Accounting Manager
HR Business Partner ? COO Organization
IT ? Senior Client Engineer
Mobile Group Product Manager, Partner Products
Product Manager, Twitter Ads
Receptionist
Software Engineer ? International Engineering
Software Engineer ? Corporate Productivity Front End
Software Tools Engineer
And remember, ?you can always find more great?social media?jobs?on our?job?board. For real-time openings and employment news, follow?@MBJobPost.
(Bird?image from Shutterstock)
Source: http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/twitter-careers-13-2_b40973
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Sunday, April 28, 2013
Can a SmartPhone Do What Your Doctor Does?
Apr 27, 2013 7:00am
Dr. Meera Dalal tests a smartphone app that measures blood pressure at TEDMED. (Image courtesy Meera Dalal)
By Meera Dalal, M.D.
During our medical training, we?re taught to gather and use information from three sources: a patient history, a physical exam and lab tests. By far the most difficult to master is the physical exam. A good exam requires knowledge of anatomy and physiology and awareness of normal variations that allow a doctor to recognize abnormalities.
Technology can help, and at TEDMED 2013, the SmartPhone Physical exhibit by MedGadget/Nurture showcased some of the latest advances. The goal was to bring complex tests that are?pricey?to perform with traditional equipment into primary care clinics.
The result: accessible, affordable $200 phone accessories, most of them approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as ?equivalency standards,? or equal to the industry standard. This technology could improve access to these tests, cut down on referrals, and provide overall better care.
?It?s great for primary care physicians, new doctors with less experience, teaching and even some patients,? said Shiv Gaglani, a medical student at Johns Hopkins and curator of the exhibit. ?Some physicians can go through their entire training without really learning to look into an eye.?
But I was skeptical. In medicine, we learn to question everything. If my own mother came to me saying hugs were good for a cold, I would take the hug then ask to see the evidence.?So I decided to try it out. Gaglani would be my ?doctor? for this 10-minute exam using the following gadgets:
Blood Pressure Monitor by Withings and Blood Oxygen Monitor by iSp02
We started off, like in all physical exams, by taking the vital signs: blood pressure; heart rate; and oxygenation. The screen buzzed with colorful readings and real-time measurement, and then uploaded my information into an iPad, where I could get it through an app.? It was a start, but I?wasn?t?that impressed. The technology for ?automated vital signs? had been around for a while, and a few years ago I taught my 7-year-old cousin how to use the machine on my grandmother.
ECG Cellphone Case by AliveCor
By squeezing my thumbs onto the metal plates of this iPhone cover, I was able to get a partial ECG that was uploaded and emailed to me. Interesting! One of the problems physicians have is that patients with heart symptoms often improve and the ECG normalizes by the time they see the doctor. This device was simple enough that patients with?symptoms?could get this cell phone case and be taught how to use it. So the next time it happened, we could get an ECG from during the cardiac event. One of the women who tried it earlier had palpitations during her exam and was diagnosed with a rhythm abnormality.
iExaminer by Welch Allyn
The eye exam, or ?fundoscopy,? is the only way we can look directly at blood vessels inside the body without having to cut anything open. It can tell us a lot about diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of practice, so many of us end up referred to an ophthalmologist. The iExaminer was able to take an impressive visual photo of the inside of my eye and turn it into a .pdf.
SpiroSmart
This SmartPhone looked at lung function, which usually is done at a special lab during an uncomfortable exam. Guidelines for chronic lung diseases such as asthma, cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ?suggest these tests should be done regularly, but because it is often inconvenient to make a separate trip, they?re ?underused. It would be great if this was more accessible.
?Unlike the lab machine, which uses pressure, this device uses sound and has been shown to be almost as accurate,? said SpiroSmart co-creator?Mayank Goel. ?This opens up so many doors; imagine even being able to do this test over the phone!?
Other devices included ThinkLabs? ds32A digital stethoscope that records body sounds (like heart murmurs), the MobiUS SP1 handheld ultrasound machine that looked at the carotid arteries in the neck and was surprisingly accurate compared to the full ultrasound machines, and an otoscope that looked at my ear drum and took a picture.
Overall, I was grudgingly impressed. The devices seemed to combine the best parts of human experience and technology; using technology to gather reliable information, especially for those with less experience, and the physician to interpret the results.
Studies looking at ?inter-rater reliability,? the concept of how likely is it that different people interpreting the same physical exam sign will get the same diagnosis, show that technology is often better for gathering consistently objective information.
The long lineup at the SmartPhone Physical Booth at TedMed included the surgeon general and Dr. Daniel Kraft, faculty chair of medicine at Singularity University in San Diego, who was impressed by the? potential for improving access to care, whether in remote areas or overseas.
?It can enable primary care anywhere. And even though we need to do more testing to ensure accuracy, the potential is great,? Kraft said.
One of the problems, however, is that each device has to be attached to the phone in a separate way, and data is uploaded to different apps, creating a huge amount of information to sift through.
?Our ability to gather data is overtaking our ability to pare it down and use it to improve our health,? said?TEDMED editor-in-chief?John Benditt.
And it?s true. The creation of complex devices and technology is surpassing our ability to learn it and use it to its full potential before the ?next big thing? comes out. What I?d really like to see is an ECG machine and BP machine that combines data with the lung machine and uploads it to the same profile. Arguably, the next big challenge in medicine may not be the creation of new technology, but finding a way to integrate existing ones.
Source: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2013/04/27/can-a-smartphone-do-what-your-doctor-does/
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Movie Review: Michael Bay Lightens Up with True Crime Comedy ...
A group of bodybuilding criminals fumble their way through mayhem in this "visual extravaganza."
Pain & Gain is rated R and runs 129 minutes. It is now playing at?Aurora Cineplex and Studio Movie Grill. For more theater information, show times and pricing, click the links above.
Here's what the critics are saying:
"This weekend, "Pain and Gain" opens nationwide, for both muscle-building juiceheads and those of us who try to make it to yoga a couple of times a week because we want to age gracefully, like Helen Mirren. The true-life story of kidnapping and murder stars Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as a pair of criminals who were part of what was known as the Sun Gym gang ?- bodybuilders whose criminal activity eventually extended into kidnapping, extortion, and murder." Drew Taylor, Moviefone. Full Review
"Memo to director Michael Bay: Stick to movies with massive pyrotechnics and minimally developed characters. Blending sharp wit and brutality is a tough proposition. Best to leave such a feat in the nimbler hands of Quentin Tarantino, the Coen brothers, Guy Ritchie and Martin McDonagh. Bay's Pain & Gain is a badly constructed, blood-spattered caper that comes unglued early on." Claudia Puig, USA TODAY. Full Review
"[Bay's] big-budget popcorn productions like Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, and the Transformers films have always strained to give audiences an excess of bang for their buck, but you never got the sense that he could tell a joke. If anything, Bay seemed like the type of guy who was incapable of figuring out whether audiences were laughing with him or at him. But with Pain & Gain, his surprising true-crime comedy, Bay has finally decided to lighten up a bit." Chris Nashawaty, EW.com. Full Review
Do you plan on seeing this movie? Leave a review of the film with a comment below after you do.
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Saturday, April 27, 2013
Samsung Galaxy S 4 drops original TecTile support, requires new TecTile 2
Don't get too attached to that collection of TecTiles if you're upgrading to a Galaxy S 4. AnandTech has discovered that Samsung's newer phone includes an NFC chipset that can't read the older TecTiles, which rely on a less common tag type to register our taps instead of the NFC Forum's standards. Customers aren't being left in a bind, however. Samsung has confirmed that it's about to release a follow-up, TecTile 2, which adheres to the official format while supporting the company's older NFC-equipped phones. The fully modernized tags will be ready sometime in the "coming weeks." That doesn't offer much immediate relief for GS3-to-GS4 upgraders whose TecTile layouts have suddenly been reduced to decorations, but those buyers should at least get the replacements they seek before long.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung
Source: AnandTech
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Debris could be part of hijacked 9/11 jetliner, police say
A piece of wreckage from 9/11 believed to be one of the commercial jets that brought down the World Trade Center was uncovered near Ground Zero. Police have now turned the area into a crime scene. If the pieces contain human DNA, scores of victims who have never been positively identified may bring closure to many families. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.
By Shimon Prokupecz, NBCNewYork.com
A 5-foot-long chunk of airplane debris found near the World Trade Center site is believed to be a piece of landing gear from one of the planes that hit the towers more than 11 years ago, NBC 4 New York first reported.
Police confirmed Friday that?the part was found wedged between two buildings in a very narrow alley only about 18 inches wide between the rear of 50 Murray St. and back of 51 Park Place, the site where a mosque and community center has been proposed three blocks from ground zero.
See original report at NBCNewYork.com
The part bears a "Boeing" stamp, followed by a series of numbers, as seen in an exclusive photo obtained by NBC 4 New York.?
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly visited the alley Friday evening and viewed the debris from about 30 feet away.?
"It brings back terrible memories to anyone who's here, and obviously I think the families could very well be impacted by this finding," he said.?
Kelly described the piece as being about 5 feet by 4 feet and around 17 inches high, lying in a "very, very narrow, confined area."?
"It's difficult to get in there and see," he said.?
NYPD
The narrow alley in lower Manhattan where debris that might be pieces of landing gear from one of the commercial airliners destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001 was found.
He said there was rope intertwined in part of the gear, and there were no marks on the buildings indicating the piece hit the walls on the way down.
"It would have had to fall down at a certain angle," said Kelly.
Asked whether he was surprised to see such a large plane part anchored in such a tight area, Kelly said: "If you see how confined this space is, and you realize the chaos that existed down here on this street, it's not surprising. It's very, very confined. No cleanup went on in this 18-inch space between these two buildings."?
The NYPD said the landing gear was found after surveyors hired by the property owner inspecting the rear of 51 Park Place called police on Wednesday.
Police spokesman Paul Browne said the NYPD has?secured the location "as it would a crime scene," and investigators are photographing the scene and restricting access until the medical examiner completes a health and safety evaluation.
Officials said the soil below the piece of debris could also be searched for remains.?
Police officials say the part could be difficult to remove, and may require demolition work that would destroy the two surrounding buildings. Officials are expected to be back at the scene on Monday to see if it can be removed.
"It really is a historical artifact," Kelly said.
On Sept. 11, American Airlines flight 11 hit the north tower at 8:46 a.m., and United flight 175 hit the south tower at 9:03 a.m.
The rubble from the 9/11 attack was cleared from the 16-acre site by the spring of 2002. Other debris, including human remains, has been found scattered outside the site, including on a rooftop and in a manhole, in years since.
A Boeing representative declined comment.
NBC New York
The name Boeing and a serial number is visible on a piece of the debris.
This story was originally published on Fri Apr 26, 2013 4:43 PM EDT
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Wii U Virtual Console now live on the eShop
The first of Nintendo's planned Wii U firmware updates went live just yesterday, bringing a much needed speed boost to software load times. And in that short time since, Nintendo's also made its retro-gaming Virtual Console portal available to users, effectively bypassing the need to boot into the Wii emulator for access. The downside to this new, belated convenience is that users will have to re-download any previously purchased Virtual Console titles, though that additional cost is relatively low at $1.00- $1.50 for NES and SNES games, respectively. Unfortunately, you'll still have to wait a bit longer for those beloved Game Boy Advance and N64 classics to make their way to the VC, as Nintendo plans to include those games sometime "in the future." Still, with band-aid number one out of the way for the ailing console and a host of tried-and-true classics now easily accessible, Wii U owners have a little something to tide them over until that late summer Pikmin 3 launch.
Source: Nintendo of America (Twitter)
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Upcycled Craft: May Day Baskets | How Does She...
For much of the northern hemisphere, May 1st? marks the return of the growing season and in my book, that?s something to celebrate!
When I was a child my mom would tell me stories about the small town in South Dakota where she grew up, and how kids would craft little May Day baskets to?give to friends.? I had been charmed by the thought of doing the same?so that?s how these little May Day baskets?came about.? They also happened to be the perfect solution for re-purposing my growing collection empty yogurt containers, which also allows me to help celebrate Earth Month (April) with a little ?reduce, re-use, recycle? goin? on!
So, if you?re a saver and re-purposer like I am, you might?enjoy this craft.? Here?s what you?ll need:
?
Top Row:? Pipe cleaners.
Middle Row: Rubber bands, empty yogurt or fruit cups, cupcake liners or treat containers (I used the sturdier treat cups from Pick Your Plum because that?s what I had on hand), and glue dots.?
Bottom Row: strip of burlap, scrap fabric, or extra wide ribbon.
Let?s Begin!
Start by fitting one treat cup or a couple layers of cupcake liners to the bottom.? Use enough cupcake liners ? each layer adhered with glue dots to the cup and to each other -so you can?t see the words on the container through the liners.? If you use a treat cup, they?re already thick and opaque so you only need one.? Next, place a rubber band near the top, just under the lip of the container.
Thread a pipe cleaner under the rubber band and make a little hook with the end (leaving approx. 2 inches to fold back parallel with the longer piece.)
Twist the shorter piece tightly around the longer piece.? Do the same on the opposite side.
?Now cover the rubber band by wrapping a wide strip of burlap, scrap fabric, or ribbon around it.? Secure to container with glue dots.
Finally, embellish with anything you have on hand to make it extra cute!? I happened to have some antique scrap-booking brads and plenty of ribbon.
Now?you?re ready to?fill the baskets with fresh flowers or lollipop ?flowers?.? For lollipop flowers, just cut some leaves out of construction paper, scrapbook paper, or craft foam, and adhere to the wrapper or stick.
Next, ?plant? them into the container filled with dried black beans for dirt.
Add a note if you like?
And you?re ready for delivery!
My daughter couldn?t keep her nose out of these; she?s so eager to give them to friends.
These would also make cute mini Easter baskets or could be used as a?take-home treat container for a girls birthday party?.
Do you save things and try to find ways to re-purpose them?? If so, I hope you?ll give this craft a try!
Enjoy,
Source: http://www.howdoesshe.com/upcycled-craft-may-day-baskets/
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Friday, April 26, 2013
Electrolux pins hopes on U.S. as Europe stagnates
By Patrick Lannin and Veronica Ek
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Household appliance maker Electrolux
Sweden's Electrolux and bigger U.S. rival Whirlpool
But U.S. demand has been picking up and Whirlpool has a relative advantage in being more exposed to the world's biggest economy, which accounts for half of its sales versus 30 percent for Electrolux.
Whirlpool reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday and stood by its earnings guidance for 2013.
For Electrolux Chief Executive Keith McLoughlin, born in New York and a veteran of the U.S. industry, the main headache is Europe, where consumer caution has spread from southern states to hitherto strong markets such as Germany and Sweden.
The company now expects waning demand for appliances in the region this year, but growth of 3 to 5 percent in North America.
"We see improvements in the (U.S.) housing market... people trading up a little bit more," McLoughlin told Reuters.
He saw no improvement in Europe in the first half of 2013.
"We're hopeful that we will start to see something more positive in the second half, but we're not changing our outlook for the year for Europe," he said in a telephone interview.
Electrolux makes machines ranging from espresso coffee makers to cookers and owns brands including Frigidaire, AEG and Zanussi.
It reported core first-quarter operating profit, stripping out one-off items, of 720 million crowns ($108.60 million), down from 907 million in the same period of 2012 and below the mean forecast of 873 million in a Reuters poll.
That included a 96 percent slump in earnings from major appliances in Europe, Middle East and Africa to just 11 million crowns from 271 million, but a rise in North American appliance earnings to 457 million crowns from 131 million.
Investors focussed on Electrolux's North American outlook and its stock was up 3.6 percent by 1008 GMT at 175.6 crowns.
CURRENCY WOES
Electrolux's guidance was similar to Whirlpool's, although Whirlpool expected a flat rather than a declining European market and saw North America up 2 to 3 percent.
Some analysts remained cautious.
"Whilst Electrolux is a well-run company geared into a consumer/housing market recovery, we view the appliance industry as the worst end-market in our coverage and in our view Electrolux's valuation remains prohibitive," said Espirito Santo in a research note.
According to Thomson Starmine data, Electrolux is valued at 12.3 times forward 12-month earnings, higher than Whirlpool's 11.9 times earnings.
Both stocks rose in 2012 on hopes of a market recovery, but Whirlpool's gain was far greater. Since the start of 2012, Whirlpool has now gained 151 percent and Electrolux 60 percent.
Electrolux's first-quarter earnings were also hit by adverse currency movements. It blamed a strengthening of the U.S. dollar against the Brazilian real, a dollar rise versus several European currencies and a weakening of the British pound.
($1 = 6.6300 Swedish crowns)
(Editing by Alistair Scrutton and Tom Pfeiffer)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/electrolux-pins-hopes-u-europe-stagnates-103211839--finance.html
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Syrian refugees denied health care due cash crunch: UNHCR
By Stephanie Nebehay
GENEVA (Reuters) - Doctors at Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan are having to decide between treating acute cancer patients and helping deliver babies due to severe shortages of cash, the United Nations said on Friday.
More than 1.4 million Syrian refugees have now fled their shattered homeland for neighboring countries whose health care systems are straining to meet the needs of their populations, in some cases suddenly swollen by 20 percent, it said.
But an appeal by U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees for $1 billion through mid-year is only 55 percent covered. This has meant that some of the costly medical care for chronic diseases is being denied, although emergency cases are treated, it said.
"We will prioritize paying for a woman's delivery instead of paying for treatment of a cancer patient with a poor prognosis. That is bad, but we have to do it. These are hard decisions," Dr. Paul Spiegel, UNHCR's chief medical expert, told Reuters.
Acute respiratory infections and diarrhea are the most common ailments among Syrian refugees, three-quarters of whom are women and children, the UNHCR said in its first report based on medical consultations in Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon. No data was available from Turkey, it said.
Some refugees require treatment for hepatitis A infections, others for skin lesions due to leishmaniasis, it said.
Both diseases have broken out in Syria, whose health system and drug industry have collapsed due to the conflict between Syrian government forces and rebels, now in its third year.
"NOT THE HEALTHIEST POPULATION"
But many of the refugees are elderly, suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes, lung disease, cancers or cardiovascular disease, who received free treatment under their country's socialized medical system, it said.
Spiegel, referring to treatment for diabetes, told a news briefing: "With renal dialysis you don't pay for a month and then stop, you pay forever.
"And then very hard decisions are made, and many are not funded, and therefore they either have to find other funding and in some cases, yes these patients may die."
Syrians are used to high-quality medical service, more comparable to that in Europe than in Africa, Spiegel said.
"This is not the healthiest population, there is smoking, a fair bit of obesity and not much exercise," he added.
In Iraq and Jordan, refugees have access to free health care at all levels.
But an "elective care committee" meets each month in Jordan to discuss refugee patients whose treatment exceeds a fixed financial ceiling, UNHCR said. In the first three months of the year, 158 Syrians were reviewed, with treatment approved for cardio cases, prenatal cases and acute renal failure, it said.
In Lebanon, which has a largely privatized health care system and cost sharing is the norm, refugees must pay for referrals to experts for specialized care. An elective care committee held its first meeting in late March to review cases.
Iraq is studying whether to set up such reviews, it said.
"People are spending more out of their pocket. Refugees are coming from a system where they are not used to paying. The longer they stay, the less they have," Spiegel said.
Antonio Guterres, U.N. refugee chief, warned in mid-March that the number of refugees outside Syria could triple by the end of the year from 1 million at that time.
"The challenges of providing access to affordable and quality health care for Syrian refugees will only increase in the months to come," the UNHCR said in its report on Friday.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Michael Roddy)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-refugees-denied-health-care-due-cash-crunch-145946259.html
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